The assembly of components, such as connectors and other electronic devices, onto circuit boards requires a highly specialized assembly procedure. Typically, connectors are secured to circuit boards by a connector housing which is fastened to the circuit board through aligned apertures by the use of a fastener. In the past, rivets, screws and solderable eyelets have all been used to secure connectors to the printed circuit board. A particular component to which the present invention is suitably applied is called a "D-sub-connector".
As the need for faster assembly rates continues, there is required in the art means for economically and quickly securing the connector housings to the circuit boards. To achieve greater economy and speed, certain objectives are desired; namely, a connector which can be inserted into the circuit board with an extremely low insertion force, a connector with fastening means which may be actuated from the top side of the circuit board, a connector with fastening means which does not require special tooling on the underside of the circuit board, and a connector with fastening means which may be actuated and released quickly with low actuation force. Rivets are inadequate because they require a high actuation force and tooling both above and below the circuit board. Screws and solderable eyelets are objectionable because they are time-consuming and labor intensive.
Various fasteners have been devised in an attempt to meet the objectives described above. U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,406 issued to Jeschonneck et al on Jul. 3, 1990 shows a housing fastener which is secured to a panel, gripping the inner wall of an aperture in the panel by an expanding sleeve. U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,219 issued to Frantz et al on Jan. 5, 1988 shows a housing connector which may be secured to a circuit board by using an expandable eyelet. With the Frantz et al device, the inner wall of the circuit board aperture is gripped by the expanding shank of the eyelet which is splayed apart by an actuation tool.
With both of these devices, however, there are drawbacks to circuit board assembly. For example, the Jeschonneck et al housing fastener is a complicated device which is slow to actuate. The Frantz et al device suffers in that it cannot be used with circuit boards of varying thickness and there is often a problem with solder wicking in the bore of the fastener through the slots. This fastener also requires that the flared bottom end project beyond the board thickness which can present an obstruction to other structures mounted on the opposite side of the board.